Zambia bowed out of the Women’s World Cup by picking up their first-ever win in the tournament with a 3-1 victory over Costa Rica in Hamilton.
After back-to-back 5-0 defeats, it only took four minutes for Zambia to score their first goal in a Women’s World Cup through a Lushomo Mweemba header and they doubled their lead when Barbra Banda tucked home from the penalty spot.
Costa Rica, whose hopes of progressing to the knockout stages had also been ended after losing their first two matches, replied early in the second half when Melissa Herrera bundled home from close range but the African side sealed victory late on thanks to Racheal Kundananji’s effort from inside the area.
Zambia had drawn blanks in their first two group games against Japan and Spain but quickly opened their World Cup account early on at the Waikato Stadium when Avell Chitundu’s corner was met by the head of Mweemba.
Zambia doubled their advantage in the 31st minute after Katherine Alvarado brought Banda down inside the area. Banda stepped up and slotted her spot-kick into the bottom left corner to give her side a 2-0 lead heading into the break, as well as recording the 1,000th goal in a Women’s World Cup.
Costa Rica pulled one back straight after half-time when Maria Coto’s header from a corner caused confusion between keeper Catherine Musonda and Valeria Del Campo, and Herrera was on hand to touch over the line.
Buoyed by that goal, the Costa Ricans pushed for an equaliser and thought they had won a penalty after Musonda brought Priscila Chinchilla down inside the area, but after a lengthy VAR review Sheika Scott was judged to be offside in the build-up.
They continued to knock on the door and saw an effort ruled out after Herrera rifled home from close range – she came back from an offside position to do so – as the score remained 2-1.
Zambia sealed the three points in stoppage time when Banda picked out Kundananji, who raced through on goal and coolly finished to complete an historic victory and help Zambia finish in third above Costa Rica in Group C.
